Tower Cranes Grow to New Heights
Within the tower crane industry, the 1950s showcased numerous significant milestones in tower crane development and design. There were a variety of manufacturers were beginning to produce more bottom slewing cranes that had telescoping mast. These equipments dominated the construction business for office and apartment block construction. A lot of of the leading tower crane manufacturers didn't use cantilever jib designs. Instead, they made the switch to luffing jibs and eventually, the use of luffing jibs became the regular practice.
In Europe, there were key improvements being made in the design and development of tower cranes. Often, construction sites were tight places. Relying on rail systems to transport several tower cranes, became very costly and difficult. A number of manufacturers were offering saddle jib cranes which had hook heights of 262 feet or 80 meters. These types of cranes were equipped with self-climbing mechanisms which enabled sections of mast to be inserted into the crane so that it can grow along with the structures it was constructing upwards.
The long jibs on these particular cranes also covered a larger work area. All of these developments led to the practice of erecting and anchoring cranes inside a building's lift shaft. After that, this is the method which became the industry standard.
The main focus on tower crane design and development from the 1960s began on covering a higher load moment, covering a larger job radius, faster erection strategies, climbing mechanisms and technology, and new control systems. In addition, focus was spent on faster erection strategies with the most important developments being made in the drive technology department, amongst other things.